Gary Russell Jr.'s trip through the World Championships is over. Russell dropped a 16-6 decision to Sergei Vodopyanov of Russia yesterday at UIC Pavilion.
According to USABoxing.org, Russell fell behind by a four point deficit early, with Vodopyanov moving out to a 4-0 lead after the first round. Russell came out swinging in the second, but the result was the same as Vodopyanov took a 9-4 lead at the midway point. The trend continued in the third round with Russell connecting with clean punches but not denting Vodopyanov’s advantage as the Russian boxer began to circle the ring. Russell stalked the moving Vodopyanov in the fourth round, even sending him to the canvas but the scoreboard didn’t change and he lost the final decision. Russell claimed a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games with his top eight finish.
UPDATE: Russell was one of five US boxers to qualify for the 2008 Olympics from this tournament. Flyweight Rau'shee Warren and welterweight Demetrius Andrade became the first Americans since 1999 to win a gold medal at the World Championships. Warren also becomes the first American boxer to qualify for two straight Olympiads since Davey Armstrong accomplished the feat in 1972 and 1976. Light flyweight Luis Yanez and featherweight Raynell Williams also joined Russell in qualifying for the Beijing games.
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6 comments:
Give Gary Rusel credit. He was going up againg some of the best with much more experiance than he has. Unfortunalely, Gary has to see this same guy again in olympics. Gary might not get him in 2008,but you can bet the house on Gary in 2012. He will more experiance and he will smoke them all in 2012. mark my words!
he'll turn pro before 2012 I bet
I think so too.
You people who are complaining about Gary not having enough experience where the heck have you been.
That kid has a ton of national and international experience.What I will say is that Gary has been very busy this year and probobly could use a little rest and time away from boxing to refresh his mind. It will take a strong fighter to beat him when he's fresh and hungry.
Gary has also been dealing with a couple different injuries, which have hindered his training some. Gary seems to be at his best when the pressure is on. Once he qualified for the Olympic trials he laid back at the USA Championships. Then he got caught snoozing in his first bout at the trials and had to get on the ball, which he did and came out of the consolation bracket in a dominating fashion. Now he did what he had to to qualify for Bejing China. He will be at his best there and I believe will be a contender for a medal unless Colrado Springs breaks his spirit.
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